


Smoke and Fire

by mondymondy



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 9-1-1 Crack Week (9-1-1 TV), 911CrackWeek2020, 911crackweek, Aphrodisiacs, Casual Sex, Coming Out, Developing Relationship, Dosed (again), Episode: s02e06 Dosed, High Sex, High conversations, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Marijuana, high sex (implied), obvs no true Aphrodisiacs exist but being crossfaded can def do the trick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:08:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27732805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mondymondy/pseuds/mondymondy
Summary: “So I know you’re both on duty...but if you come by again after we reopen...consider this a gift card.” He handed the card to Buck. “Have a treat, on me.” He said, with a small laugh....A grateful dispensary owner offers Buck and Eddie a sample of their choosing. The following weekend, a casual night of video games evolves into something more as the mildly aphrodisiac strain takes effect.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first fic I've ever uploaded!  
> (Edited for typos)

Glass was all over the front entrance as they walked into the dispensary. It crunched under their thick boots as they made their way to the scene. One man was cradling a bloody hand while a threatening-looking woman leaned over him. Another was sadly picking his way through the broken glass of the former display counter. As Buck reached the scene, the man slowly lifted up a little glass elephant pipe, with a stem for a trunk. 

“Thank god, lil’ Horton made it.” He said with a small smile “This one’s my favorite.” He turned towards the rest of the crew and gestured angrily at the other man. “This idiot here has been trying to sell us counterfeit vapes for the last few weeks. Insisting they’re brand models.” He waved his hands wildly around the showroom. “When’s the last time you saw a real DaVinci explode, Dumbass!” 

The other man said nothing, and Hen moved in to get a look at his hand. 

“A vape did all of this?” Chimney asked, glancing between the glass and the blood. 

“Yeah, the counterfeit models have faulty wiring, faulty batteries. If Snoop weren’t ready to kill him I’d say he’s lucky his face didn’t get blown off.” Snoop, the threatening woman, glared down at the counterfeiter, who shrunk further in on himself. 

“Same concept as those exploding phones a few years back. The lithium battery gets overheated, reaches a critical temperature. Then it’s just a positive feedback loop ‘til it explodes.” Eddie began scanning the room. “We need to start looking for the pieces of the battery, there could be chunks of it still burning in the shop.” 

“Good point.” Cap said. “Alright, Buck, Eddie you two start looking for the pieces of the battery. Hen and Chimney focus on that hand. See what you need to do there. You may need to transport him separate. And...” he looked towards the store manager. 

“Martín.”

“Right. I’m going to start cleaning up those cuts you’ve got, Martín. See if any look like they need more treatment.” 

…

Buck and Eddie were wandering the front room, looking for the battery chunks. Buck, energetic as always, was bouncing between the aisles of paraphernalia. Dropping to the ground and hopping quickly back up as he looked under each shelf. 

There was very little actual cannabis in the front room. The manager explained that they keep the actual content locked up in a back room. _Sorta like how shoe stores only put one half of the shoe pair on display._

Nonetheless, Buck found himself endlessly entertained by the dispensary’s many display cases, particularly the strain names. 

“Dude, you’ve got to see the names of these. Come here,” he gestured for Eddie before he dropped back to the ground to keep looking for battery pieces. Eddie walked over and began reading the names.

“Poochie love, Catpiss, purple monkey bal-“ Eddie cut himself off. “Dude, are you five?” 

Buck giggled from under a display case. 

“Keep reading,” he said. 

“Ninja turtle kush, Girl Scout cookies, Barack o Bubba, Alaskan thunderfu-“ He cut himself off again and Buck kept giggling like a middle schooler in a sex-ed class. “Alright. That’s enough. Let’s focus on finding that last chunk of battery. Okay?” He tried to keep a serious expression, but a smile kept breaking through. 

“Uh.. I think I found it.” Buck cringed before jogging over to the wooden display, housing rolling papers. Lodged into the wood, millimeters from a very flammable stack of papers was a large chunk of battery. A small tendril of smoke rose up from the source. “Hand me those grippers, will you?” Eddie handed him the grippers and held out the hazard box for him as he pulled the piece free. Buck gently placed it in the box with the others they’d managed to collect. He gently shifted the scraps around with the grippers until they formed a relatively complete rectangle. “Does that look like all of it to you?”

Eddie looked at the pieces and squinted. “Looks alright to me. Hey Martín. Does this look right to you?” 

Martín walked towards them and glanced into the box. “Yeah.” He pointed his bandaged finger towards a curled edge. “These burn marks seem to line up with the other pieces all along here. Looks like you got all of it.”

“Great. Our Captain called a hazards company before he took off with the ambulance. They’ll be here any moment to take this off our hands but other than that. I think you’re ready to start cleaning up and returning to usual business.” Eddie said. 

“Sounds good.” Martín let out a deep breath. “Wow You guys don’t know how much I appreciate you staying after to help out. Insurance companies hate us and it would have been a nightmare if we had to deal with fire damage on top of this whole mess.” 

“Well it is our job. Firefighting and all that.” Buck gestured to his LAFD shirt. 

“Of course but hey,” Martín reached into his wallet and pulled out a business card. He flipped it over and started writing a note on the back. “So I know you’re both on duty...but if you come by again after we reopen...Consider this a gift card.” He handed the card to Buck. “Have a treat, on me.” He said, with a small laugh. 

…

“I can’t believe you accepted that gift card”. Eddie said. Buck briefly glanced away from the road to look at Eddie. 

“I was only being polite!”

“Were you?

“Hey, I’m entitled to my own... off duty activities.”

“Oh. I’ve heard the stories.”

Buck made a face and Eddie laughed. “Sorry.” Eddie said. “But seriously, have you ever smoked?”

“I mean, after I moved away from home I did a little but I stayed away from that stuff in high school.” He reached a stop sign and looked around before he carefully brought the engine into a left-hand turn. “My mom and step-dad went through a bit of a hippie phase when I was in middle school. Did a pretty good job of making drugs seem extremely uncool for a while there. You?”

“No. I was pretty dead-set on joining the army in high school. After that...hardly seemed worth risking a discharge over.”

“And now?”

“I’d try it?” 

Buck raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” 

“I mean. It’s legal now, hardly has the same consequences it used to.”

They arrived at the station and Buck began maneuvering the engine into the garage as he mulled over what Eddie said. He engaged the parking brake and then turned to Eddie. “So you have next Saturday off, right?”

…

Buck had showered, cleaned every inch of his apartment and changed his shirt three times in the last 20 minutes. Between work and spending time with Christopher, he hung out with Eddie almost every day. But for some reason, whenever the two of them had time alone, he found himself overthinking his every action. He knew there was attraction there and it was probably affecting him a little. He wasn’t oblivious enough to be unaware of that and Eddie was objectively an attractive man, it was hardly a surprise that he found himself at least a little interested. Nonetheless, it wasn’t a practical thing for him to be feeling so he figured he’d just wait it out and eventually lose interest. He’d only acted on his interest in men a few times in his life, so he had some practice in that department.

He glanced at the time on his phone. 7:54. Eddie would be here soon. Years of strict command structures had certainly made that man punctual.

Buck jogged up the stairs to grab the pre-rolled joints he’d gotten from Martín the day earlier. At the dispensary, Martín had personally walked him through the strains and helped him pick out the perfect one. In all honesty, Buck hardly understood a word of Martín’s descriptions. His decision was ultimately based on the strain name: firetruck. He figured Eddie would get a kick out of that. 

_Now this one has what we call a cerebral high. It makes you feel nice but allows you to focus on the…other things you’ll be wanting to do. This one tends to increase blood flow and enhance the feeling of touch. If the two of you are looking for a really, good night, this would be my personal recommendation._

_…_

“So, I instinctively brought beer, realized on the way that it was probably unnecessary but…” he shrugged. “Can’t hurt, right?”

Buck closed the door and followed him to the kitchen, where he was already putting the beers in the fridge. 

“Is there a real plan here,” Eddie said, leaning against the counter. “Or are we just hanging out?” 

“No real plan. Just thinking we smoke then play some Rocket League? Maybe a fighting game?”

“I like that plan. Do you have the…?” He gestured towards Buck and Buck nodded, pulling the baggie out of his pocket. 

“Yep. Just what Martín recommended. Something called _firetruck_.” Eddie snorted. 

“And would it be fair for me to guess that you picked it, purely because of the name?”

“Oh, a hundred percent.” Eddie laughed again and Buck opened a drawer to grab a lighter. 

“Do you want a glass of water? Smoke always used to make me cough.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” 

Buck filled a glass and handed it to Eddie before filling his own. Buck gestured towards the cracked window in the living room and they both began walking towards it. 

At the window, Buck reached into the baggie and pulled out the pre-rolled joint. He placed it between pursed lips and brought the lighter towards the lit end. 

“Last chance to back out.” He said.

“I don’t back out of anything.” Eddie said.

Buck scoffed and flicked the lighter. He breathed in slowly as he brought the flame to the end of the joint. A moment later, he felt a burning in his lungs, and he moved the joint away from his mouth. He waited a few moments, holding in the smoke for as long as he could before exhaling through the window. He coughed once and handed it off to Eddie.

“Your turn.”

…

Buck was talking but Eddie found himself entranced by all the odd little details of Buck’s face. He watched the light from the kitchen illuminate a gently sloped line from Buck’s temple to his jaw. He followed the muscles that lifted and stretched with Buck’s words, right to the lips that spoke them. The pink lips were such a stark contrast to the green of his stubble, and he wondered how, under the skin, the red-gold hairs could possibly appear so green. He watched the lips move and then still for a while before they became to take the shape of his name. 

“Eddie? Eddie?”

The corners of lips drew back on the first sound and returned on the second. 

“Edmundo?”

The corners of the mouth drew back on the first sound and then, on the second, pushed forward like a kiss. 

A hand was placed gently on the side of his face. 

“Eddie, you still here?”

He brought his eyes up towards Buck’s and gave a dopey smile.

“Yep” he said. “You’re very colorful.” Eddie added. “Did you know that?”

“I don’t think anyone has told me that before. Thank you.” Buck said with complete sincerity.

Eddie continued staring and Buck looked at him with a soft smile. For a moment, Buck’s eyes quickly flitted down to look at Eddie’s lips before he resumed eye contact, now with a small expression of nervousness. Suddenly Buck hopped up from the couch and rushed off towards the kitchen, taking his empty glass with him. 

“My mouth is super dry? Is your mouth super dry?” He placed the glass in the sink and moved towards the fridge. “That’s normal right? Pretty normal for weed?” He grabbed a beer from the fridge and quickly popped the lid with a dishtowel. He took a couple quick sips and walked back towards Eddie, handing the beer off to him before he sat down. Eddie accepted and downed a few quick gulps himself, ignoring the quiet voice in his head that wondered if this was a good idea. They passed the beer back and forth and watched the abandoned pause screen of the game continue flashing. Paradoxically, the beer seemed to bring his mind back into focus. 

Before the beer, he felt only tangentially connected to his body. After only a few sips, he felt himself returning. The warm feeling of the alcohol began to spread deep into his belly and back out again. He could feel the rhythmic pounding of his pulse intensifying as the heat spread from his belly to his groin. He looked back towards Buck’s face and this time, the appreciation he had for the man’s features felt far more than simply aesthetic. 

“Is it just me or are you uh…really feeling this beer.” Buck said, glancing at Eddie from the corner of his eye.

“No, I’m um…really feeling it too.”

They both continued to stare at the pause screen and indelicate questions began pushing at the edges of Eddie’s mind. He began to weigh the risk of asking such questions against his desire to relieve the growing heat in his body. Eventually, the heat won out. 

“When you smoked in the past, what sort of things did you like to do when you were high?”

Buck scrunched his eyebrows and looked to Eddie skeptically. "Well I loved to go outside. Hiking along short trails, wandering the beach. Beyond that, you may have to be more specific.” He smirked as he took another sip of beer."

“Have you ever had sex while high.”

Buck choked on his beer and coughed twice before regaining his composure. Eddie wondered if his reaction came from the directness or from something else. 

“Well uh,” Buck let out a short but good-natured laugh. “Yeah.”

“Was it good?”

Buck’s eyes widened and he looked towards Eddie with an incredulous grin. 

“I mean…” Buck brought a hand towards his bottom lip and took a moment to gather his thoughts. “You know that warm, tingling feeling you’re probably feeling right now?” Eddie nodded. “Let’s say that that feeling pairs quite well with…other sensations.” He grinned and then fixed Eddie with a questioning look. “But seriously, why are you asking? I never would have pegged you for a long-list-of-love-affairs kinda guy. You got plans I don’t know about?”

Eddie shrugged and reached for the beer. “Just curious.”

“Hmm,” Buck hummed, looking at Eddie with doubt. “My turn to ask questions now.” He rested a hand on his chin. “Have you done the casual thing before?”

Eddie tilted his head to the side, wondering how much to say. Before Shannon, he had messed around with a friend. It had lasted for a while, nearly a full year, but once he committed to Shannon, there was no one else. He wondered how much he could say before Buck figured out too much. He knew where he was hoping the night would lead but he wasn’t ready to lay his cards on the table yet.

“There was someone before Shannon,” he said slowly. “A friend. It was casual, it never ended up becoming a proper relationship or anything.”

“Was she pissed about that?”

 _He._ Eddie thought firmly. “I don’t really know. We sorta drifted apart once I got together with Shannon and we graduated pretty soon after. Went our own ways.”

“Sounds like she was pissed,” Buck said.

“Expert on this huh? Got a long list of pissed off women?”

“Not really. I mean, there’s been a miscommunication or two but almost every person I’ve been with has been pretty clear about just wanting something casual. That’s the beauty of the apps, my friend.” Buck fixed him with a cheesy grin but Eddie found himself fixating closely on Buck’s word choice. Buck had responded to Eddie’s question about women with gender-neutral language and it hadn’t gone unnoticed. He tried again. 

“So you can message a woman and she’ll just admit to that?”

“Not always but, there’s a good chance you’ll eventually find someone who’s very direct about what they want.” He shrugged and after this second instance, it was Eddie’s turn to wear the inquisitive look. Between the beer, the weed, and the conversation, his own libido and curiosity were beginning to outweigh his risk aversion.

“Have you only been with women?”

…

Buck took a sharp breath in and looked down at the beer bottle. Eddie had asked questions but hadn’t said much in return. It wasn’t quite fair, Buck decided. 

“Have you?” He said, eyebrows raised.

Eddie stared back at Buck and held his gaze firmly. “No,” he said, and Buck felt a wave of heat pass through him at the confirmation. If he’d been told, a few hours before, that Eddie would soon be telling him, with flushed cheeks and a fiery look in his eyes, that he had indeed been with men before…Buck wouldn’t have believed a word. 

“So, you still never answered my question? Have you been with men?”

“Yes,” Buck whispered, suddenly breathless.

The two of them stared at each other, hearts pounding, and breaths quickened.

“This is an interesting line of questioning you’ve started here.” Buck let his voice drop to a raspy pitch, “I can’t help but wonder why?”

“Can always blame the weed, right?”

“You certainly can.” His eyes darted across Eddie's features as he searched for further confirmation of the other man's interest. Eddie had already engineered a sexually charged conversation and an ambiguous coming-out. Buck could think of few innocent explanations for that. Experimentally, he scooted himself closer to Eddie and dropped his gaze down to Eddie’s lips, this time with premeditated intent. He brought his eyes back up to Eddie’s and watched the other man let out a shaky breath. “Your move,” He said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I said I’d add a second and final chapter...well, I actually wrote four more. I’ve already written chapters 3 and 4 and I’m almost done with chapter 5. I’ll post as soon as everything has been checked over.

“I don’t want to make assumptions here.”

“You’re not,” Buck said, voice low and raspy.

For a few moments, nothing happened. But then, Eddie placed a strong and calloused hand against the side of Buck’s cheek. He held eye contact for a couple of heartbeats before finally moving in to press a close-mouthed kiss against Buck’s lips. Another heartbeat and Buck was returning the kiss. Opening up and pulling Eddie in close. The kiss deepened and he felt blood rushing to his lower body. The intensity of the physical reaction began to overwhelm him and he used the last of his remaining willpower to break the kiss. 

“Hang on.” He panted “I don’t want you to feel like you’ve made a mistake tomorrow.”

“Does this feel like a mistake?”

“No but...” Buck tried to gather his thoughts. “What if we’re awkward tomorrow and we screw up what we already had just because we got high and horny and crossed the line?”

Eddie glanced down at where his hand rested on Buck’s upper thigh, inches from Buck’s…

“And if we already crossed the line?” He said. “This doesn’t have to ruin us, right?”

“No. It doesn’t. But…would you have wanted this if we hadn’t smoked?”

“I’ve wanted this for a while.”

Buck inhaled sharply and felt a rush of blood. He held eye contact, staring into Eddie’s blown pupils, and knowing his own were similarly dilated.

“Me too,” He said.

Eyes locked on each other, Eddie’s hand slowly moved up and inwards. With the palm of his hand, he pressed lightly down on Buck. At the contact, Buck struggled to breathe and felt desire rest so heavily in his belly that he nearly felt nauseous with it. Desperate for relief, he grabbed for the back of Eddie’s neck and dragged him back into a kiss. In a singular motion, he pivoted the two of them around and climbed onto Eddie’s lap. Without breaking the kiss, he managed to get his fingers under the bottom of Eddie’s shirt so that he could begin working the shirt up and off the other man’s torso. They broke the kiss and Eddie raised his arms so Buck could work the shirt off his head. The moment Eddie’s shirt came off, Eddie removed Buck’s. They returned to the kiss and with fumbling hands, began to loosen belts and buttons. 

Finally, Buck broke the kiss and pressed Eddie’s face into his chest as he began catching his breath. Within moments, the air was knocked out of him again as Eddie drew a nipple into his mouth. 

“Oh my God,” he said. He nearly collapsed onto Eddie, but Eddie held him up with strong hands. Still holding Buck’s weight, Eddie began to lay Buck onto the couch and continued to kiss and gently suck at Buck’s skin. Moving down Buck’s torso, he paused at Buck’s waistband and pressed a kiss through the layers of fabric. He looked up at Buck with hooded eyes. 

Buck brought a hand to his mouth and gently bit down on the flesh to keep from cursing. The image before him was truly overwhelming. There was something that always got him about seeing another man from this angle. The fact that the man looking up at him was Eddie...Buck could no longer form words.

When Eddie finally unzipped the jeans and drew him out, he felt as if his heart had stopped. When Eddie brought his mouth to him, his mind was immediately cleared of any and all coherent thought that still remained. He was overcome by sensation and with the knowledge that it was Eddie who was making him feel like this. 

The next few moments, (minutes, hours?) passed by in a blur. He felt as if he were drifting in and out of his own body, all while remaining deeply aware of his own pleasure. As he felt himself being brought closer to the edge, he gently started to lift up Eddie’s head in a feeble attempt at a warning. Eddie only looked up with a mischievous expression and instead sank down upon him further. Having no objections to that, Buck allowed himself to relax again. In the last few moments before climax, he carded his fingers through Eddie’s short hair and grasped tightly onto Eddie’s hand. He held onto Eddie for dear life as he rode out the last, intense waves of pleasure with a loud gasp.

As he returned to himself, his body felt incredibly relaxed and pliable. As Eddie moved back up towards Buck’s mouth, he continued to hold onto Buck’s hand, which had since gone limp. 

“How are you feeling?” Eddie asked, hovering just above Buck’s face.

Buck, still unable to speak, fixed Eddie with a dopey grin and brought Eddie in for a kiss. The kiss was gentle but the taste of himself on Eddie’s lips immediately reignited his desire, albeit to a milder degree. 

He reached between Eddie’s legs and palmed him through his jeans. At that, Eddie rutted forcefully against his hand and Buck began working to unzip his jeans. Once he got a hand wrapped around Eddie, the rutting motion intensified and Eddie bit gently into the junction between Buck’s shoulder and neck. Eddie sucked forcefully on the skin, and Buck knew Eddie had already managed to mark him up. With Eddie’s hot breath tickling Buck’s neck, he brought Eddie back into the kiss and imitated Eddie’s move from earlier as he lay Eddie down on the couch. 

Loosely pinning Eddie’s arms with one hand, Buck sucked and nipped at his neck, marking him up in return. While his grip on Eddie’s wrists could easily be broken, the throbbing he felt in response indicated to him that Eddie liked the reminder of Buck’s strength.

He brought his hand up and down in several slow and purposeful strokes and he began kissing his way down Eddie’s body. When his journey reached its terminus, he breathed hot air against Eddie and grinned as Eddie's entire body writhed in response. With the same grin, he looked up at Eddie one final time before he took him into his mouth.

…

Eddie gripped the couch cushions tightly and fought the urge to buck his hips up into the other man’s mouth. He ran his hands against the back of the couch before grabbing hold of Buck’s shoulders and gripping tightly. In his efforts to avoid choking Buck, he writhed against the cushions. The warm and tingling feeling that Buck mentioned, had begun to intensify and concentrate in his lower body. He was never one to be spent so quickly but he suspected he had very little time remaining. 

“I’m alre-Jesus!” he gasped as Buck did a swirling motion with his tongue. “I’m close.” He finally managed and Buck winked up at him, indicating that he was just as committed to this as Eddie was earlier. As Eddie’s body began to tense up, he almost felt as if he were seeing bright lights beneath his closed eyelids. His body curled inward and he held tightly onto Buck as his body was rocked by the intense waves of climax. The moment before oversensitivity took over, Buck released him and climbed back onto the couch to lean against Eddie. 

As their breathing and heart rates returned to normal, Buck chuckled. “That was nice,” he said.

“It was,” Eddie agreed, with a similar laugh. 

They lay there for a while, before Buck hopped up to get them both water. “Alright, so if there’s one thing I got really, really good at during my _ Buck 1.0 _ phase, it was keeping this period here,” He made an undefined gesture with one hand. “-from becoming awkward.” He handed the glass of water to Eddie and moved back towards the kitchen, opening his fridge. “I figure at this point you are probably very hungry, and I’ve got this great grilled chicken salad from my last round of meal prep, does that sound good to you?”

Eddie took a moment to assess his body and felt his stomach growl, right on cue. “That sounds great,” he said, standing up from the couch and zipping his jeans. He picked up his glass of water and joined Buck in the kitchen, where the other man was carefully shoveling a bright and colorful salad onto two plates. 

“This looks amazing,” Eddie said. “I keep forgetting how much you’ve gotten into cooking."

Buck smiled. “Thank you. Bobby was a great resource, but I’ve started branching out a bit more on my own. Found some great resources online. You and Chris should come over sometime soon, we could make something.”

“Chris would love that. He really likes cooking; it always makes him feel like a grown-up.”

Buck smiled even bigger at the thought of Christopher and slid a fork and container of balsamic vinaigrette across the counter. Eddie marveled at how smoothly they had fallen back into their normal routine. If it weren’t for the glaring hickeys on Buck’s neck and their matching lack of shirts, they could almost pretend that nothing had happened. In all honesty, Eddie wasn’t sure how he felt about that. 

“So uh, how are you planning to hide those when we go back to work,” Eddie said, nodding his head in the direction of Buck’s hickey’s. 

Buck placed a hand over the side of his neck before pointing his fork at the marks on Eddie’s own skin. “Probably the same way you plan to hide those,” He said, raising an eyebrow.

“What are the odds that everyone at the station minds their own business for the next three to five days and just doesn’t notice.”

“Oh. Not a chance.”

Eddie shook his head. “Damn.”

“I do have some concealer I’ve used for this before. I might have some that could match your skin tone if you want to keep this on the down-low for now.”

Eddie considered Buck’s offer for a moment. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this thing with Buck yet. He certainly didn’t regret the events of the last hour but the genuine possibility of them being more than friends was still an incredibly new concept in his mind. His mind was still turning over the possibilities. 

“I think I may accept that offer for now.” He said, carefully considering what to say next. “But that’s not because I’m ashamed or bothered by this,” he gestured between the two of them. “I’m just not quite ready to be under the microscope yet, you know?”

“Yeah, I totally get that. Don’t stress about it.”

They ate the meal and continued sobering up. After, Buck brought out three small containers of concealer and swatched them against Eddie’s neck, checking which one matched Eddie’s skin tone the best. When he found one that worked, he handed it to Eddie, telling him that he should hold onto it until the marks faded. When their fingers touched, Eddie felt a sudden urge to kiss him but didn’t. Instead, he wondered what their new boundaries were. _Was this a one-time thing? Would it happen again? Would it always be this casual?_

This time however, Eddie no longer had the bravery to ask these questions. 

When he drove home an hour later, he felt the questions continuing to bounce around in his mind. In all honesty, if Buck were to ask him directly what he wanted this new thing to be, Eddie would have no clue what to say. 

When he got home, he set his morning alarms and immediately dropped into bed. He stared at the ceiling, thinking. He had to be up early tomorrow to pick up Christopher from Abuela’s but his thoughts were so loud and insistent, that he doubted he would manage to fall asleep any time soon. Rolling onto his side. Eddie closed his eyes and willed the questions out of his mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neither being a guy or being into guys, I quite literally wrote this as a lesbian scene and then went back through and made the necessary changes. I was very out of my element when I wrote this and I really hope it doesn't show.
> 
> Let me know if you find any typos or grammar mistakes. I'll try to do one another edit when I upload the last chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The opening scene is meant to make fun of a self-proclaimed group of “carnivores” who counterprotest vegan events. If you would like to skip this part, scroll down past the first page break (centered ellipsis) and start reading from “What the Hell was that?”

The following Monday was surprisingly busy. A vegan group was holding a protest near a city college and the counter protesters managed to quickly outdo everyone else in their insanity. 

“We have a case of suspected anaphylaxis. Corner of Wilshire and South Catalina. White male, age 25 to 30. Be advised that the individual was participating in some sort of demonstration and there are likely to be large crowds.”

The dispatcher’s descriptions could not have prepared them for the scene they found themselves in. 

A man was sitting on blood-dripped cement, struggling to breathe. A dark-haired woman was attempting to speak to him but he continued to feebly push her away. When he saw the paramedics, he turned a bloodstained face towards them and started yelling..

“Go away! I’m fine!” He shouted with a thick accent.

“We’ll be the judges of that.” Bobby said and he signaled for Hen and Chimney to begin assessing the man. “Buck, Eddie, you’re on crowd control. Get everyone back so we can work. Sir,” He addressed the man on the ground. “Can you tell me what happened?” The man ignored him and Cap tried again. “Are you injured? Can you tell me where this blood came from?”

“It’s the meat,” the woman said, with a similarly thick accent. “He was eating it for the protest. Veganism makes people sick. We demonstrate, see.” She gestured towards her group and Buck felt his stomach lurch with the realization that the group was eating massive slabs of raw meat. 

“You’re eating raw meat?” Cap said, shocked.

“The media lies to you!” The man shouted, attempting to shove Hen and Chimney away from him. “Our ancestors-” He ran out of breath before he could finish.

Buck and Eddie gaped at each other from opposite sides of the scene.  _ What the Fuck? _ Eddie mouthed. 

“Alright, does he have any known allergies? Was there anything he ate today, anything he was exposed to that you can think of?”

“Just that meat.” The woman said to Cap. “He’s had allergies before but they weren’t this bad. Sometimes when he eats lots of meat he gets the red spots everywhere.”

“Have you ever gone camping in Texas or anywhere in the Southeast US?” Eddie asked her. The crew looked at him, confused. 

“Yes.” The woman said. “Last fall we went camping in Virginia. Lots of bug bites. Why?”

“There’s something called the Lone Star Tick. It can cause meat allergy,” He said, raising his eyebrow at her. “You might want to look into that.”

The woman's expression fell and the counter protesters started shouting. The original protesters joined in and the scene rapidly became more chaotic despite Buck and Eddie’s best attempts to contain it. 

“Cap, we’re ready to transport now.” Hen said.

“Understood, we’ll keep the crowds back while you get him loaded.”

…

“What the  _ Hell _ was that,” Hen said the moment the ambulance doors closed. They had dropped the man off at the hospital and were on their way back to the station. She sat on the bench in the back, across from Buck and Eddie. Chim was up front with Cap, driving the rig.

“I don’t even know,” Eddie said, rubbing his neck.

“You ever seen anything like that before, Cap?”

“In all honesty Chim, it seems like every week I see something that I’ve never seen before.”

“And how did you know that thing about the Texas Tick thing?” Buck asked Eddie. “Did you make that up?”

“The  _ Lone Star tick _ and no. My sister is big into camping, I swear she could list the incidence rates for all tick-borne diseases going back at least five years.”

“Nevermind how he knew it, we all know that the only reason he brought it up was to cause drama- woah!” Hen cut herself off. “Speaking of drama...is that a hickey on your neck?”

Buck and Eddie simultaneously clasped a hand onto the sides of their neck and Cap pivoted around in his seat. Chim, driving, glanced at them though his rearview mirror.

“Not you Buck,” She said laughing. “But I love that you assumed I was talking about you. No, I’m talking about Mr. Mysterious over here.” She laughed and leaned forwards, “Come on Diaz, move your hand.”

Eddie scowled at her but there was no real bite in his expression. He finally dropped his hand and Chimney briefly turned around to see, taking advantage of a red light. From the front seat, he wolf-whistled and Hen joined in, the two of them always partners in crime.

Eddie rolled his eyes and Buck leaned in to inspect the marks as if he were seeing them for the first time. 

“Must have been a real pistol, huh?” He said grinning. 

Eddie gave him an odd look, wondering how Buck was deciding to play this. Buck winked at him and leaned back in his seat. 

Hen looked between the two of them for a few moments before looking back at Eddie. Right as she was about to open her mouth, another call came over the radio. When the call ended, she addressed Eddie: “I’ll give you a break for now but you better believe I am coming back with more questions.”

...

Eddie walked up to the lockers looking at his hand. “I must have rubbed off the concealer,” he told Buck quietly. 

“I’ve been worrying about that with mine.” Buck held the front facing camera of his phone towards himself then turned to show Eddie his neck? “Can you see anything?” He whispered. “Obviously it would be really suspicious if-” He cut himself off and put away his phone. 

“Hey Chim” he said with unnatural pep.

“Hey Buck,” Chimney said slowly, looking at Buck suspiciously. He walked towards his locker and side-eyed the both of them. 

“Oh, don’t stop your secret little meeting on my account.”

“There isn’t any secret-”

Chimney held up a hand, cutting off Eddie. “Save it.” He closed his locker, apparently changing his mind about whatever he went to grab in the first place. “I’m gonna go play pinball with Hen,” he said, giving them one last odd look before jogging off.

“That was weird,” Eddie said.

“Yeah,” Buck agreed. “You know, I kinda hoped we could get a few more rounds in before anyone got suspicious.”

“More?” Eddie repeated and Buck looked slightly nervous. 

“Shit, did I misinterpret…”

“No,” Eddie said quickly. “You know um...I have about a ninety minute window between when I get off work today and when I need to pick up Christopher.”

“Oh?” Buck said, and do you have plans yet?”

“I think I do now.”

…

For the rest of the day, Eddie found himself slightly nervous and distracted. Every call that came in was a welcome interruption from his thoughts, no matter how minor. Regardless of what was going on in his personal life, he was able to put it all aside when someone else was in trouble. Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to all the time in-between calls...which also happened to overlap with rounds of questioning from Hen and Chim. At one point, Bobby pulled him aside for what Eddie almost assumed was going to be Bobby’s own turn to question him.

“Obviously we all care about you and are curious about your life,” Cap said. “but if you want to keep this to yourself, I can ask everyone to lay off.”

“Thank you Cap. I do want to keep this to myself.” Cap nodded “But you don’t have to do that.”

“Alright,” He said, scrutinizing Eddie’s expression, “but if they do get to be too much, let me know. Okay?”

“Okay,” he replied. 

Cap briefly clasped a hand on his shoulder before walking away.

When his shift finally ended, he turned left out of the parking lot, pretending to drive to his own place. Two streets away from the station, he turned around and began driving towards Buck’s place. At this point, nerves properly set in. This time around, there would be no mind-altering excuses and whatever happened would be undeniably real. 

He pulled into guest parking at Buck’s building and hopped out of the truck. 

As he jogged up the stairs, doubts and questions swirled in his mind. _Would this really stay a casual thing? Would everyone at work figure them out? What if Buck wanted this to be a serious thing? What if_ _**he** _ _wanted this to be a serious thing?_ A bundle of nerves, he knocked on Buck’s door. 

A moment later, the door swung open and Buck stood there, a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. He could hear the shower running from the bathroom.

“So I didn’t get a chance to shower after work, I’m letting the water warm up right now.” Buck stepped aside to let Eddie in. “If you like, you’re welcome to join me.” He turned his back to Eddie and walked towards the bathroom, at the bathroom door, he turned back around to look at Eddie. He grinned, invitingly. 

Slack-faced, Eddie allowed his eyes to pass over Buck before he nodded. Buck grinned even wider and stepped out of view. 

Eddie followed Buck into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He turned his head towards the shower. Through the translucent curtain, he could see Buck’s blurred outline. His heart began pounding faster and he could feel a warm rush of blood moving to his lower body. He began removing his shoes and clothes, pausing at the last item. Dropping the last of his clothes to the floor he stepped towards the shower and put a hand on the curtain. Mentally, he counted down before he drew aside the curtain and stepped in.

...

The two of them lay across Buck’s bed, tangled in sheets and panting. Between the shower sex and the second round that came after, the two of them were just as sweaty and gross as they had been before the shower.

“You know, I could really get used to this.” Buck said.

“Me too,” Eddie said.

An intensely warm and fluttery feeling passed through Eddie and he glanced quickly over to Buck who was sporting the cheesiest grin he’d ever seen. The fluttery feeling intensified and Eddie quickly looked away, fighting back a grin. There was something deeply endearing about the man and he allowed himself a few moments to privately appreciate him. 

Buck was the most genuine and refreshing man he’d ever met. Even in their most casual interactions, Buck was capable of instantly raising his spirits. He was funny without even trying; Eddie had lost track of the number of times they found themselves laughing over the last sixty minutes. Buck was capable of effortlessly blending his sexual prowess with humor and putting Eddie at ease. Most important, Buck already knew who Eddie was. He knew the best of him and the worst of him and accepted all of it.

They lay there for a few moments before Eddie spoke.

“This thing…” He gestured between the two of them but let himself trail off, suddenly nervous. Buck looked at him expectantly and he pushed forward through the nerves. “...what's this gonna to be?”

Buck, stared at the ceiling for a moment before replying. When he spoke, he gave the most honest answer either of them could have given:

“I don’t know.”

A brief silence fell between them before Eddie’s phone alarm was going off. 

“Crap!” he said, jumping up from the bed and grabbing for his towel. “I need to take off now or I’ll be late to get Christopher.” He wrapped the towel around his waist and ran down the stairs to grab his clothes from the bathroom. He dressed as quickly as he could and grabbed his keys from where they had fallen on the bathroom floor. When he stepped out of the bathroom he nearly bumped into Buck, who was wearing a flattering T-shirt and grey sweats. Buck walked him to the door and held it open to say goodbye. 

“Make sure you drive safe.” Buck said.

“Thanks,” Eddie said, smiling at the cheesy expression of worry. Despite the time crunch, he wasn’t quite ready to leave. He stared at Buck for a few minutes before an odd surge of bravery passed through him. He leaned forward and quickly pressed a kiss to Buck’s lips before stepping back to leave. He waved to Buck and then turned around to start jogging off down the hallway. Just before he turned around, he swore he saw Buck bring a hand up to touch his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The opening scene in this chapter is a reference to [a bizarre group that attends vegan events and eats raw meat in public.](https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/bb7dsg/eating_raw_meat_in_public/) (Apologies for linking to one of the worst subreddits…) They seemed like a pretty solid choice to make fun of and giving one of them a meat allergy seems like exactly the sort of heavy-handed justice the show is so fond of. The specific allergy I mentioned is called alpha-gal syndrome or alpha-gal allergy (yes, I know there’s a joke in there but it’s short for alpha-galactose). It is an allergy to a carbohydrate found in most mammalian (red) meat. It is not common and often takes a while to be diagnosed. It is suspected to be caused by a tick that is found in the Southeastern United States. ([CDC link](https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/alpha-gal/index.html), [Mayo Clinic link](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this and chapter 5 at the end of November but felt weirdly self conscious about posting. Anyway, a month later... here I am.

The next few days passed far smoother. Hen and Chim seemed willing to lay off Eddie and the two of them were hooking up every moment they had alone together. Which, granted, was not that often. At some point, he must have let his guard down because Hen started questioning him as they were playing video games upstairs. 

“So it seems that you’re the only one who hasn’t been giving Eddie a hard time this week,” she said.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he said, secretly amused by the double entendre. 

“No? It seems like you're the only one who hasn’t felt the need to question him about that mark which leads me to believe that you know where it came from.”

Buck quickly glanced around the loft, it was empty. 

“No one else is upstairs, Buck. Give me some credit.”

“C’mon Hen, I thought you had decided to lay off us.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Us?”

“That’s not what I meant-” he began but Hen, quick as a cobra, put her thumb in her mouth and then pressed it to Buck’s neck. She rubbed quickly at the skin. “Gross!” he yelled, laughing and gently pushing her away. “What are you doing?” 

Suddenly, she drew back and whispered loudly, “I knew it! I knew it!.” She pointed at Buck’s neck and he realized that she had managed to rub off the concealer. “You didn’t question him about the mark because you knew exactly  _ who  _ it came from!”

“How’d you know?” he asked, more amused than annoyed at this point. In all honesty, he had expected Hen to figure them out quickly.

“Chim saw you the other day, asking Eddie to look over your neck. Obviously he found that pretty suspicious. Also you two have been acting pretty odd lately.”

“Does everyone know?”   
“No,” Hen said. “I think it’s just Chim and I. Although I made him promise not to tell Maddie yet.” She patted his knee. “Also, I’m pretty sure Cap thinks you set Eddie up with someone, but he might be worried that you’re being a little bit of a bad influence on him. You know, setting him up with someone who would leave hickeys on a thirty-two-year-old with a kid and a regular job...” She fixed him with a mildly judgemental look and Buck made an expression of concession. She had a point. “But seriously, what the Hell is going on with you two? Is this a thing now? Is it serious, casual...?”

“Will you promise to keep this quiet?” He asked, voice low. She nodded and he continued talking. “It started out casual, now...I’m not completely sure.” Hen raised an eyebrow. “Like the other day, we hooked up and as he’s leaving he kisses me goodbye…I’ve never had a guy do that.” He fixed Hen with a confused look. “Like, what does that even mean?”

“Um…” Hen paused for a moment, clearly needing to gather her thoughts. “Honestly, I think guys have different rules for these sorts of things. I’m not sure how helpful I can be with this.” Her tone changed slightly. “Do you even know what you  _ want  _ it to mean?” 

“Honestly?” He brought one hand to his temple. “I don’t. It all happened too fast for me to even consider what a real relationship would be like. I’m telling you, Hen, within the span of what...four, five days I went from thinking he wasn’t the slightest bit interested in men, much less me, to having sex every-”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Hen said, waving a hand to get him to stop. “Careful on the details there, Buckaroo.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Just, things are happening fast and I’m not quite sure what it all means. And I know he doesn’t want to be “under the microscope” yet so if you could all lay off on the questions and try not to tell anyone…”

“I understand,” She said with a sympathetic smile. “You know, you two actually surprised me a little.”

“Really?”

“I mean, when I first met Eddie, I briefly thought he wasn’t straight but at this point, the idea of you two actually getting together, even causally, surprised me. I started to think that you’d stay this adorable, little, pseudo-family-unit forever.” She raised her eyebrows at Buck, “Now you better tell me when you two drop the “‘pseudo’ part. You hear me?”

Buck laughed awkwardly.

“I’m serious Buck. Don’t you dare forget ”

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you.” She ruffled his hair and he rolled his eyes at her. “Alright well I’m going to sneak downstairs to cover this up again,” he said with mock annoyance. “Maybe sanitize my neck while I’m at it. He then dropped his voice just low enough that he knew Hen could still hear him. “Dick.” 

She laughed and he covered his neck as he got up from the couch. He gave her one last mock-glare from the top of the staircase, before jogging down to the lockers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. I wanted to capture a scene of Hen and Buck messing with each other. They’ll always be the other’s annoying sibling.

**Author's Note:**

> I may add a second chapter soon or I may leave it as is. Let me know if I should add a final, explicit chapter. :)  
> 
> 
> _…_
> 
>   
>  Some mild liberties were taken in this fic.  
>  The strain that Eddie and Buck smoke in this fic is made up but the other names are completely real. Additionally, whether or not a firefighter is allowed to smoke weed can depend on the department, even if it is located in a legal state. A lot of this has to do with insurance purposes, commercial driver's licenses and the fact that there is no "breathalyzer" equivalent for THC. Some liberties were also taken in describing the layout of the dispensary and in the concept of the hazards company and hazards bin. Additionally, a name choice early in the fic is 100% a reference to a favorite show of mine.


End file.
